The Better 'Ole (1926 film)

The Better 'Ole is a 1926 American synchronized sound World War I comedy drama film. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., this film is the second full-length film to utilize the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process, two months after the first Vitaphone feature Don Juan; with no audible dialogue, the film does have a synchronized musical score and sound effects. This film was also the second onscreen adaptation of the 1917 musical The Better 'Ole by Bruce Bairnsfather and Arthur Elliot. Charlie Chaplin's eldest brother Sydney Chaplin played the main lead as Old Bill in perhaps his best-known film today. This film is also believed by many to have the first spoken word of dialog, "coffee", although there are those who disagree. At one point during the film, Harold Goodwin's character whispers a word to Sydney Chaplin which is also faintly heard. This was discovered by the UCLA's Robert Gitt, during the restoration of the sound discs for the film. The line was recorded in perfect sync, apparently during the orchestra recording sessions rather than live on set, therefore making it the earliest known use of dubbing in a motion picture.

Plot
Old Bill (Sydney Chaplin), a jovial Limey sergeant, discovers that the major of his regiment is a German spy in collusion with Gaspard (Theodore Lorch), the local innkeeper. The spies mistrust him and poison his wine; but it spills and eats a hole in the floor through which Gaspard falls into the cellar. Trying to rescue him, Bill discovers a cote of carrier pigeons. Tipped off by the major, the Germans bomb an opera house where Bill and fellow soldier Alf (Jack Ackroyd) are performing; they escape, however, in their impersonation of a horse and later pose as German soldiers in a German regiment. Bill manages to get a photograph of the major greeting the German general, but it falls into the hands of Joan (Doris Hill), a prisoner of war. Bill is forced to join a German attack against the British, and though he saves his own regiment, he is shot as a German spy. An old friend, however, has substituted blank cartridges for the real ones, and Bill is pardoned when Joan and his friend Bert arrive with the incriminating photograph.

Cast

 * Sydney Chaplin as Pvt. William 'Old Bill' Busby
 * Doris Hill as Joan
 * Harold Goodwin as Bert Chester, Secret Service
 * Jack Ackroyd as Alfie "Little Alf"
 * Edgar Kennedy as Cpl. Austin
 * Theodore Lorch as Gaspard
 * Charles K. Gerrard as Maj. Russett (credited as Charles Gerrard)
 * Tom McGuire as The English General
 * Tom Kennedy as The Blacksmith
 * Kewpie Morgan as Gen. von Hinden
 * Arthur Clayton as The Colonel

Premiere Vitaphone short subjects
The Better 'Ole premiered at the Colony Theatre in New York City, New York, on October 7, 1926. Four of the seven shorts survive on both disc and film, with the occasional loss of footage due to nitrate decompostion. Disc recordings survive for the shorts with George Jessel, Bruce Bairnsfather and Reinald Werrenrath respectively.

Box office
According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $955,000 domestically and $318,000 foreign.

Preservation
The film, as well at its Vitaphone soundtrack, survive and remain intact, with the exception of one reel, which is currently missing. The film exists in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Home media
This film was released on DVD-R through the Warner Archive Collection in 2009.